Session 44 - Tyranny of Dragons, Part VIII - Wyrmspeaker Murders
Having returned from the nearby villages, Erden and Sariel returned to lake after receiving information that there was cultist activity there the night before. At the lake, the duo found cultist bodies at the bottom of the lake and began investigating the case alongside a case of missing Elven guards at the behest of Arakoris. The duo returned to the lake to question the fisherman who seemed to be hiding the fact that they saw a group of elves being killed and tossed into the lake wearing cultist garb. They borrowed one of the boats and began pulling the bodies from the lakebed. Presenting Arakoris with the evidence, Erden suggested two possible scenarios: one the guards were active members of the Cult of the Dragon and were killed by people who had found them out or two, someone had dressed the guards in cultist apparel and dumped their bodies to throw people of the track that cultist were active in the area. Erden would meet Cailan Dorne, who bickered at length at how each of them had failed in their duties to protect the realm, with Cailan stating that Erden had failed to aid the kingdom at Haulkeen while he was off for a month doing his own personal business, and Erden retorted by stating that Cailan had let the capital fall under his watch. Ruby Noaks would follow Erden but losing track of him would return to the Ebon Vipers' headquarters to speak with Ulrich Stormwind. Having found nothing of note from the Vipers, Erden would travel to the lake where he would spot a group of fishermen dumping a body into the lake. When questioned, they stated that they had found a man that was linked to the Cult and killed him without retrieving any information from him. The man turned out to be the drunkard that provided Erden and Sariel with the information about the cultist activity at the lake. Return to the Inn, Erden disguising himself as the barkeep would infilitrate the drunkard's room while Cailan and Ruby were investigating. Erden would stealthily sneak a small black book from the drunkard's desk and begin with the aid of Sariel to uncode a message found within it: Throw the bodies in the lake. Varram will be here tomorrow. Hail Tiamat! Death to the Elf-King. Return to the Enclave, Erden questioned arakoris about Varram who was not familiar with the name but Cailan began questioning Erden about how he had retrieved the notebook and its authenticity. Erden would sneak his way into a ranger's room and found nothing of note that linked him to the Cult. He would force his way into the room of a dwarf wizard under the guise of a cleaning lady. He would unlatch the window allowing for him to return later when he would find out the dwarf wizard was wearing a necklace with the symbol of Tiamat on it. Killing the wizard, he would return to his natural form of a human vagrant. Erden would then sneak into the ranger's room which had been the room the drunkard had previously occupied and looked at him and his necklace that bore the symbol of the god, Torm.